Flaum's Challenges Industrial Workers of the World to do the Right Thing and Come to the Negotiating Table

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The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and Brandworkers International continue to peddle misinformation about a 2008 labor dispute between Flaum’s (and its Sonny & Joe's brand) and 11 of its former workers.

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Come to the negotiating table rather than negotiate in the press

Brooklyn, NY (PRWEB)November 15, 2011

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Brandworkers International and other fringe interest groups continue to peddle misinformation about a 2008 labor dispute between Flaum’s (and its Sonny & Joe’ s brand) and 11 of its former workers. They are picketing stores and urging businesses not to do business with Flaum’s, based on false information that Flaum’s is somehow embroiled in a scandal or that it is mistreating its workers. As is documented in http://www.realflaums.com, this is a labor-management dispute where the IWW is seeking to badmouth an upstanding company based on unreferenced accusations. It even led to a temporary suspension of business with a leading Israeli cheese manufacturer. Flaum's challenges IWW to come to the negotiating table in the true spirit of the American way rather than continue to spread falsehoods that are part of sensational but false information in the press.

The management-labor dispute that began in 2007 was the first in the company’s 90-year history and is in no way a reflection of the company’s heritage of serving the community with quality kosher products. The dispute involves only 11 of 16 former employees who refused to return to work after being offered reinstatement by the company. Labor disputes are very much a part of almost every business environment and the fact that this is the first and only dispute of the many hundreds of people that Flaum has employed over the years is in itself testimony of the company’s stellar history and commitment to fair labor practices. Unfortunately, Flaum and Sonny & Joe’s fell victim to grievances filed under the guise of the IWW that were ultimately adjudicated by the National Labor Relations Board - Case 29-CA-028502.

Flaum’s alleged non-compliance to date with the NLRB ruling is not an attempt to avoid its legal obligations, as the IWW and its accomplices would have you believe. On the contrary, Flaum is resorting to various legal remedies (referencing previous NLRB rulings) that it is fully entitled to in dealing with facts that are grounded in law and deserve a fair and unprejudiced hearing in a court of law. For example, a well-known case (NLRB Case 29–CA–25476) established that undocumented workers are not entitled to back pay - . Flaum, in fact, offered to reinstate some of the workers but they could not produce documentation and refused the offer.

Flaum’s has always and continues to adhere to fair labor practices. It denies allegations that it forced laborers to work for wages that are below minimum-wage and is prepared to document these facts.

The real victims are Flaum's and its 70 satisfied employees who certainly deserve better from people who purport to support labor.